Posts Tagged ‘Ammo’

So, months ago, I talked of building an AR myself, rather than buying one, in order to save money, while getting exactly what I wanted. While this didn’t work out exactly how I expected, it did work out. First off, I saved roughly zero dollars. All told, I’m $850 into my rifle. I could have purchased a fully assembled rifle for the same price off the shelf. What I couldn’t have purchased, however, is the exact rifle, to the exact specs, that I wanted, off the shelf.

I built my rifle in large part to match the one I carried as a Marine. I opted for the 20″ heavy barrel, with a forged upper receiver and an M-16 bolt carrier group. It is a flat top model, with a removable front sight. I didn’t go for a hand guard with rails on it… yet. Instead, I opted for the A2 style hand guards, which I find to be more comfortable in my smaller than average hands. I chose the standard M-16 style pistol grip and buttstock as well, because I know them both by feel, and knew that this would give me a rifle that would be familiar to me. I put standard iron sights front and rear, with a carry handle style rear iron sight setup, because I trust irons not to lose their zero regardless of rough treatment. The beauty of the AR-15 is that all of the things I opted for can be changed as I spend more time with the rifle and decide what I do and do not like. There are already things I’d like to add or change.

As for putting the rifle together myself, I would do it again in a heartbeat. As a caveat, I didn’t assemble the upper receiver-barrel. I ended up purchasing from www.jsesurplus.com as I found good reviews of their products and services. My upper assembly was built by Wilson Combat and test fired prior to shipping, which gave me some reassurance, as there are some areas that you can screw up that can be potentially harmful to your person (read: things blow up in your face). That said, my upper assembly came complete, with bolt carrier group and all. To that, I added the lower receiver, which I had to fill with trigger assembly parts, and a buttstock and pistol grip.

None of the steps in the process were difficult, and it required only basic hand tools. I did have to do a little sanding in order to get the upper and lower receiver to mate properly, as they came from different manufacturers. I made one mistake that involved a little bit of drilling, but this could have been avoided had I read through the steps in the process before starting.

If you are going to do this yourself, here are my pointers, based on experience:

1) Do research before buying parts, to be sure that you get quality products.

2) Buy what you want, within your budget, but remember that you can always change it later.

3) Build a rifle chambered in 5.56 mm, not .223, because the former can handle the latter, but the latter will not handle the former.

4) Read through the steps you are going to follow to put it together, BEFORE you put it together. There are youtube videos as well, but again, watch the video all the way through before you start.

I spent the morning at the largest gun show to hit this area all year. I haven’t been yet without coming home with something.

Today it was a stripped lower reciever for an AR-15. The one I bought is from Rock River Arms.

I’ll be buing a kit from www.akpartskits.com so that I can afford to own one that is exactly how I want it to be. For $650 bucks I’ll be able to get a complete AR with sights. In addition to this, I will be buying a second complete upper at some point in the future.

The second one will be chambered in .300 AAC, also known as .300 Blackout. The reason I’ll be buying this is because it will attach directly to the lower receiver for the AR-15. It uses all of the same lower receiver parts, plus the same magazines. This in effect will allow me to have two rifles for the cost of one and a half. The 5.56mm setup will have iron sights for reliability, and with the small round, will be affordable to shoot. the .300 setup will have a decent scope, and with the heavier round, will be used for distance shooting of big game, etc.

I’m going to write up my experiences on building my own rifle from parts, so that you can decide for yourselves if its something you might want to do.

Okay, I’ve said before, I like guns. That being said, I’ve had many lengthy conversations at work that revolve around guns. These usually involve some normal people, and some people who are beyond batshit crazy. Everyone has an opinion, and some of them almost seem valid. We typically discuss the topic of necessary guns in the case of some crazy shit happening. That being said, I would recommend that you tread lightly when approaching this topic with the guy two cubicles over. This is the type of shit that gets you fired, or brings the Feds to your front door when the lady in the pink blouse who can’t mind her own damn business calls her senator becasue you said “gun” at work.

Back to the firepower. Part one of this discussion always revolves around the types of guns you should have. Yes, guns. You can buy one gun, and it will do one, or maybe two, things well. You need to be able to do many things with guns. This is about survival, after all. I have decided on what I consider the must-have abilities when it comes to shooting shit.

1) A rifle capable of hitting, and killing, a decent sized animal at 300 to 1000 yards. This is for the deer in the distance, or elk, or errant cow, or whatever. The key here is that, although a decent varmit rifle may hit something this far away, it is not likely to take it down.

2) An assault weapon capable of being used in tight spaces as a defensive weapon. It needs to be able to kill in the 10 to 300 yard range. This is a great place for the Communist bloc weapons, such as the SKS or the AK-47. The idea here is defending you and your shit from others who are not friendly to you.

3) A shotgun that can be used primarily to hunt. Shotguns are great because there are lots of choices for ammo, and they can be used to kill everything from small birds to deer without problem. Also a great defensive tool.

4) A handgun, for last ditch save-your-own-ass (SYOA) shots.

5) I know, I said four, but it has been brough to my attention that a rifle which chambers .22 Long Rifle ammo would be very handy. It is ideal for killing rabits, squirrels, and the like, uses the most common ammo in the world, and both it and its ammo are relatively light and small. Younger memebers of your survival team will also be able to use such a rifle with relative ease.

Now, thats 5 guns, and 5 different types of ammo. What the hell?

First off, if you have a wife, or husband, or kids, or friends, you can pass ammo and guns about, so that everyone helps shoulder the load.

Secondly, there are ways to cut this down some. After much discussion, it has been generally agreed upon that the first two can be combined. Before explaining how, let me give you a pointer. Buying guns that use common ammo means you should have less trouble scrounging extra once the SHTF. My plan is to buy guns that use NATO ammo. NATO has decided that all participating countries will issue their militaries firearms that shoot common ammo, so that they can share when the Commies (I know I know) come pouring into Europe from the east. This is good for all of us, because this ammo is much easier to get. The chamberings in question include 5.56 mm (these guns will also shoot .223), 7.62 X 51 mm (these also shoot .308), and 9 mm for pistols. As shotguns are concerned, 12 gauge is extremely common, as every redneck who fancies himself a hunter probably has at least 100 rounds kicking around his house.

Okay, sorry, back to combining two of them. If you research either the Springfield M1A, or the Armalite AR-10, you will notice a number of things. Both are based on combat firearms. Both chamber the 7.62 X 51/.308 round. Either of these rifles will easily kill something anywhere between 10 yards (watch Full Metal Jacket. Pyle proves this point) and 1000 yards, as long as you have a scope to allow you to see that far. Both can be set up with high capacity magazines, making them good for defending yourself. Additionally, because both are combat style arms, they are easy to disassemble and clean with few or no tools. That takes care of both 1 and 2 with a sinlge firearm.

Shotguns are awesome because they are both readily available and cheap. The Remington 870 line and the Mossberg 500 line are both very affordable pump shotguns, with many options availabe from the factory, and tons of aftermarket support. Pump shotguns are simple and reliable, and pack a mighty punch. If you shop some, you can get one with an 8 round magazine, which is really nice.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of 9mm handguns on the market. I like the Beretta 92 line of guns, because, again, they are based on military guns. This means they are simple, rugged, and reliable. Additionally, you can get 15 round magazines for them. Thats a lot of pistol ammo. They are accurate, to top it all off.

Now, for the .22. I would look to the Ruger 10-22 first and foremost. They are affordable, durable, accurate guns. They are simple to own and operate.

Obviously, every asshole who ever breathed has an opinion on this topic. Most of them are probably wrong. The rest might be right. Either way, this is my loadout plan for my guns. It will take me a while to get them all together, but I have the shotgun out of the way already (yeah, I know, thats the cheapest one).

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